The invention relates to the switching element for high-speed data traffic.
The invention also relates to a method for controlling the said element.
The development of high-speed digital broadband networks and real-time multimedia services based on these networks sets new demands on the hardware and software solutions in these systems. The data transfer rate for instance in a MAN network (Metropolitan Area Network) is 140 Mbps, and in FDDIs (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) 100 Mbps. If packet routing is performed in these environments, there is a demand of 100-600 Mbps throughput of data between data transmission and processing components.
As examples of hardware which demand high data flow rates and thus high data throughput, let us mention high-speed packet switched networks (ATM), routing between FDDI, LAN and MAN networks, real-time digital video compression, real-time multimedia coding (ASN. 1+VER), real-time security algorithms and multiprocessor machines with distributed operating systems (e.g. MACH-supercomputer).
High data throughput demands high data transfer rates between the input and output of the system. In the prior art there are known transputer-type solutions where the processors are connected to each other with 30 Mbps serial connections. However, these connections are difficult to apply, because the fast data stream should be effectively distributed over the transputer network. This would demand some kind of distribution frontend in the system.